Thursday 29 November 2018

HIV/Aids was back in the headlines after several years out, so I thought I'd check the stats.

This is what the 'elite' tell you...
But if you look at the figures that matter...


Only 0.06% of the straight white UK population have HIV. Almost no one - yet it has soaked up £bn's that could have been spent on elderly care, hip replacements, cataracts, and other services that the huge bulk of the UK population thought they were paying in to the NHS to cover...

Who has HIV? Where has this money gone?... I took a quick look...

OK, so from a number of googled sources (mostly the first reliablish site that turned up - 2016 was the most complete recent year for stats)...

Number of people with HIV in the UK:

GroupNumber of CasesTotal in UK Population% of Group Infected% of UK Infections
White Gay Men
35,314
570,857
6.10
35
Black Gay Men
5,886
95,143
6.10
6
White Straight Men
11,400
27,943,543
0.04
11
Black Straight Men
16,400
4,090,457
0.40
16
White Straight Women
5,000
29,037,600
0.02
5
Black Straight Women
26,000
4,262,400
0.61
26

NB: The 6.10 for %age of group infected for black and white men is an artefact of a source citing 2% of men in the UK identifying as gay - so it is not possible to specifically separate black/white proportions from that specific figure.

The sources used were:-

-->https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/602942/HIV_in_the_UK_report.pdf -->https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/sexuality/bulletins/sexualidentityuk/2016

-->https://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/western-central-europe-north-america/uk

-->https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_United_Kingdom

Wednesday 21 November 2018

UK Plod gets bitch slapped by GAB.

I wonder if this plod has any concept of 'free speech'? Free speech being one of many genuine 'British Values' that those we remembered on the 11th just a few weeks ago died to protect?

No, probably not, he is a plod after all...


From Plod to Gab:


From Gab to Plod:

Tuesday 13 November 2018

Guardian admits it is #FakeNews and then blames Trump for repeating it!

The Guardian reported the French President Macron as making a speech wanting an EU army to protect the EU from the USA!


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/06/macron-calls-for-real-european-army-at-start-of-war-centenary-tour

Pretty clear eh?

But when Trump responded to the speech calling it an 'insult' The Guardian changes tack and accuses Trump of conflating a speech and a radio interview.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/nov/13/trump-macron-eu-army-german-second-world-war

Well Trump was only citing the very story that the Guardian had run days earlier, as had every other media outlet...

Wednesday 7 November 2018

Brighton homeless 'charities' guilty of modern day slavery.

The core problem is that our public sector is destroying society - the public sector undermines peoples own actions so making peoples own efforts and initiatives futile, they extort peoples money and they usurp peoples responsibilities - so leaving people to simply drift while they wait for what the state will do to them next.

People sleep rough for all kinds of reason - from choice though to necessity (based on the choices society has left them).

The public generally don't like seeing rough sleepers or seeing beggars. When confronted with people in such a situation they may offer some small assistance - money or some such, but they would really much rather they weren't there next time the passed that way.

So, under the pretence of 'helping' these poor souls, the pubic sector and charity sector have stepped in to tidy up the streets. In so doing they have created nice, well paid, comfortable jobs for themselves, created organisations that need all kinds of support staff and get all kinds of taxpayer handouts to help them with their 'mission'. But what ever the 'mission' was when a private charity, once the taxpayers pocket is near, they all simply become tax parasites looking to get fat at other peoples expense -- with their 'unfortunate clients' only useful role as a 'human shield' so the charities can defend their own greed by virtue signalling over those they pretend to help.

A once common phrase was 'where there is muck, there is brass'. Meaning that people are often willing to pay (brass) to avoid doing dirty work themselves. Clearing the streets of the homeless is the 'dirty work' and the taxpayer are the source of the 'brass', while the 'charities' and 'public sector' (the tax parasites) are those supposedly doing the work.

Because the real purpose of this is to clean the streets (not to help anyone) any dirty trick maybe used to persuade someone to stop sleeping rough. Working hand in hand with another part of the tax parasite sector, a part that is paid to providing 'housing' for those 'rescued' from the streets they aim to force people off the streets (for a tax funded fee) and force them into the 'housing' (again for a tax funded fee).

To the tax parasite public and 'charity' sectors, the rough sleepers are as slaves or cattle being herded around (often under coercion) so the overseers/shepherds can be rewarded from the tax-payers purse.

The latest dirty trick (actually a repeat, but better executed this time) is to persuade people to not give money to beggars. This so called 'fake leaflet' is not a fake... it just uses a council logo without permission.

https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/fake-flyers-designed-to-provoke-hostility-towards-homeless-1-8696552

Meanwhile, the government fattens the cats with more taxpayer money (not for the rough sleepers, buy for the tax-parasite public and charity sector).

https://www.brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk/news/government-pledges-100m-to-end-rough-sleeping-1-8599168

And they tax-parasite housing sector hoover up the unfortunates where they they just die anyway... so much for being 'saved' from 'rough-sleeping'.

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17206277.31-homeless-people-have-died-in-sheltered-accommodation-in-brighton-in-2-years/







Thursday 1 November 2018

What does Islam say about sex with children (pre-pubescent girls)?

TLDR: Islam allows the marriage, consummation and divorce of children (pre-pubescent girls).



There has been a lot of controversy about this recently - most notably a woman in Austria being convicted for saying Mohammed's would be considered a paedophile today. And that conviction being upheld by the European Court of Human Rights as they declared the statement was not covered by 'freedom of speech'.

There is a whole story about the gross incompetence in the ECHR's judgement, but this blog is about what Islam says about sex with children, what we now call paedophilia.

There is lots of information about a 50+ year old Mohammad marrying a 6 year old girl, and consummating the marriage when she was 9 years old. This is denied by some people, but it seems only by those who are trying to reconcile Islam and Western cultures, but it is generally accepted that this was the case in Muslim environments.

Because disputes over the age of Aisha that have been discussed at length there seems little point in repeating the discussion.

But I found another source that shows that child marriage/sex has been acceptable in Islam, so there is no reason that any Muslim should have any issue with Mohammad marrying a child. it is in their divorce and remarriage laws.

To ensure that a yet to be born child can know its father, Islam requires that a divorced woman does not remarry until three menstrual periods have successfully are past. Islam has identified two situations where this would be a problem - where the woman has passed he menopause, and where the girl has not started her periods.

These cases are specifically spelt out - here I quote from Wikipedia - while not necessary an authority links to such


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iddah

2. The waiting period of a child who has not had her menstrual cycle yet is three months;
and
﴾The same for the young, who have not reached the years of menstruation. Their `Iddah is three months like those in menopause. (Quran Tafsir Ibn Kathir) 

So it is clear that Islam makes specific provision for the marriage of pre-pubescent of girls, and not only marriage, but divorce and re-marriage while still a child.

More concerning to western values that the Koran says that Iddah is only required for divorces in consummated marriages.

“O you who believe! When you marry believing women, and then divorce them before you have sexual intercourse with them, no ‘Iddah [divorce prescribed period] have you to count in respect of them”[al-Ahzaab 33:49]

So Islam fully expects that a 'husband' of a child they are divorcing may have consummated the marriage (so requiring Iddah as set out above). Further as the law of Mohammed is immutable, unchanging, this will always be seen as fundamentally allowable for all devout Muslims for all time.

Finally, I don't expect any genuine devout Muslim would disagree with anything written here - why would they? It is what Mohammed said, so must be good/correct. Denials would either be knowingly false, or made by those who don't genuinely follow Islam.

Wednesday 26 September 2018

MPs who reject our democracy can not claim any legitimacy for their own election as MPs!

We know the left in the UK are the only dangerous native extremists - and they have infiltrated pretty much all sections of society (with influence way of of proportion to their size). They have particularly infiltrated the public sector giving them huge and unaccountable access to taxpayers funds.

And now they so emboldened as to openly call to overturn the UK's democracy. As Maggie T said "Socialists don't like giving people choice, because people may well not choose socialism.".

But on with this incident...

Labour MP's calling for the overthrow of the UK's constitutionally and democratically installed government. The speaker is Laura Smith MP (Lab - Crewe and Nantwich) to her left as you look at the screen is Lloyd Russell-Moyle (Lab - Brighton Kemptown).


These people are simply unfit to be MP's - they should be subject to immediate recall.

Tuesday 4 September 2018

Make political beliefs a Protected Characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

If you want people to be more active in politics,then you have to remove the extensive punishments that people face for being active in politics.



Why don't more people (especially the young) get involved in politics?

Because it is unlikely to do their career chances any good (unless they are a politician), and it is quite likely to cause their career prospects harm.

Peoples political beliefs are part of the way they think about things - to be punished for the way you think make it a 'thought crime' and is a direct attack on free speech.

The solution? Make political beliefs a Protected Characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

Make it illegal to discriminate based on political beliefs, and where necessary bring in quotas in the public sector and targets in the private sector to ensure all political beliefs are properly represented at all levels of society.

The first impact would (of course) be to install brexit supporters throughout the Civil Service and BBC, removing remainers who have been made redundant.

It would also likely be a improper for employers to search individuals social media and other historic material that does not form part of their current CV - other than to verify the details on the CV (or application form).

If you want people to be more active in politics,then you have to remove the extensive punishments that people face for being active in politics.

Tuesday 28 August 2018

Gammon.club - part of the alternative Twittersphere 'Mastodon'.

Gammon Club/Mastodon - getting started for Twitter users...

Getting off to a flying start.

(TLDR: scan to the red on yellow sections!)

Using Mastodon is quite like Twitter. The default web interface for Mastodon is very like Tweetdeck - with columns of messages selected for various reason. You can favourite, reply or boost messages (Messages are referred to as'Toots' rather than Twitters 'Tweets') and you can follow other users, and they can follow you. Twitter has around 350 million users, the Mastodon federated network has a bit over 2 million.

The biggest difference is that Twitter is run by @jack - he is the god of all Twitter. Mastodon is a federation of many smaller instances, to the user it looks pretty much the same, but each instance has its own 'jack' who administers it and different instances may have different rules. This has pros and cons, one is that you can have a jack that is fare better than @jack, the other is that you con have a jack that is far worse than @jack - but you can move instances pretty easily if it all goes sour, you aren't completely cast into the wilderness!

So...

1) Chose an instance - maybe John Bull's Gammon.Club!

This is like an email domain, the bit after the @ in your email address - @gmail.com, @yahoo.com, @ etc. This will be your local instance and be part of your id. I am @JohnBull@gammon.club (n.b. yup two '@'s in there, and I don't think capitalisation matters, I must check!). Users/toots on your home instance get special treatment/priority so it is best to choose one populated by users who will tend to be particularly interesting to you. Just as you can have more than one email address - work, gmail, yahoo etc you could have accounts on several instances, but we are staring with your first.

2) Create an account.

Once you have chosen an instance and created an account (there maybe email confirmation etc) you are good to go. So login to your new account, update your profile with a picture/avatar, a few words about yourself (whatever you want to say/disclose!) maybe other links (blog, facebook etc), you will already be setup to follow the instance administrator (your own local jack) and get started.

3) The basic display.

Your home page will look a bit like this:



  • The first column has a useful toolbar and search at the top and is where you type your new toots. 
  • The second column 'Home' lists the tweets of those people you follow (like the main twitter time line). 
  • The third column 'Notifications' shows events that specifically affect you - follows, boosts, replies etc. 
  • The fourth 'Getting Started' column can change what it shows by clicking the links or by using the toolbar in the fist column. 

4) The toolbar/fourth column.

The toolbar looks like this:



  • The first icon/buttons is 'Getting Started' and shows the 'gettng started' column with it's useful links.
  • The second icon is 'Local Timeline' which shows all the toots of all the users on your home instance.
  • The third icon is 'Federated Timeline' which is the same for all users on the instance - it shows all the toots of all the people on your instance and the toots of the people followed by people on your instance. So as I follow @zerohedge@quitter.im all of his public tweets show in my 'Home' timeline, but in the 'Federated Timeline' too.
The next two icons don't change the fourth column - the first is 'settings' and the last is 'logout'.

5) Finding people to follow.

Clicking on a toot can take you to the posters profile, their home server, their other threads etc - if you see a tweet that you like then check out that persons own timeline - see who they are talking to, follow anyone who looks interesting.

6) Anatomy of a Toot.

  • Posted by @Battsby - an account on the same server, otherwise it would be shown as @Battsby@gammon.club.
  • Clicking the @Battsby would show his profile (in the 4th column)., clicking on @AliCat or @pperrin would show you to theirs.
  • Clicking on the time (1h, here meaning 1 hour ago)  would open the toot and its thread in a new window.
  • Clicking in the text of the tweet will display the thread the toot is part of..
  • The double left arrows allows you to 'reply' to the toot.
  • The recycle arrows allow you to boost (retoot) the message to people who follow you.
  • The star favourites the toot.
  • The ... opens more options - which are text not icons so don't need explaining here!

7) Anatomy of a new Toot. 


Looking at the input area:-
  • The crying laughing icon lets you insert emoji
  • The text area is where you type the toot! (If you were replying the names of those in the original toot would already be here)
  • The camera lets you attach a photo
  • The globe lets you set privacy (note these are not guaranteed, once tooted, assume your toot may end up in public!)
    • Public - anyone can see it.
    • Unlisted - does not appear in instance or federated timelines.
    • Followers - Unlisted and can't be boosted/retooted for others to see.
    • Direct  - To specified users only.
  • CW adds a content warning - requiring users to click a 'read more' to see the toot (good for joke punchlines, or content people may not want thrust directly in their faces!)
  • The number (here 500) is the number of characters you have left to use!

8) Anatomy of a Profile.

If you click on an users name @user@home-instance you will get a summary view of their profile in the fourth column. vis.

I use JohnBull for admin, pperrin for chat this is the @pperrin@gammon.club profile viewed from another instance.

Most of the information is pretty self explanatory - one quirk is that the toot, toot and reply and media pages may initially be blank -- as your instance will need to contact the other instance to fetch them...

But a nice easter egg is if you click on the avatar image... it will take you to the profile page on the home server vis.

(note: the edit is there only because I was still logged in!)

The fields here are, again pretty self explanatory. But give you a page full if information at a time rather than it being squeezed into a column(!). And as this page is from the home server all the info will be up to date immediately.

9) A Conversational Thread

Just as quick side note - if you see a toot you want to reply to, I would suggest you first click on the '...' and then 'expand this status' - this will display the entire thread in the fourth column - and seems to do a better job of pulling in comments from other instances to the thread.

10) A Handy Bookmarklet

Toot from any page - drag this to your bookmarks bar - it assumes you are on Gammon.club - if you are on a different instance, edit it to change the url.

Toot the Current Page!

Wednesday 25 July 2018

HourCoin - a crypto currency for Agorists and Libertarians...

Hour-coin.

Imagine a currency you issue yourself (as does everyone else), secured against your own future labour, quite simply secured on the basis that you trade your time for other peoples time.

On occasion you have free time you have no immediate use for, so convert it into tradable currency that you can use to buy other peoples time with in future... you need work done but dont have the time/capacity to do it? Pay others to do it with coins you mint, backed by the promise you'll return the effort in the future.

Babysit today, have your garden cleared tomorrow (or vica versa)  - look after an elderly neighbour today, use the tokens to pay to be looked after when you need it. 

Creating a crypto-currency has long been on my list of needs - each coin fundamentally secured against an hour of unskilled labour by the person who minted it. Tradable IOUs, time offsetting between when you have time available and when you don't. And trading unskilled, different skilled and multi-skilled time for your own.

Mint coins by promising to give your time, cancel coins by delivering on the promise, trade coins freely in the mean time.

I just discovered how easy it is to create crypto tokens - compatible with standard crypto wallets. So could do this tomorrow... but it needs a critical mass of initial participants to get going... anyone interested in looking to get on baoard?

Tuesday 17 July 2018

The clock is ticking, business needs a solid option to prepare for #Brexit

There is only one guarenteed option, UK needs to chose it and let business prepare.

We have about 8 months to #Brexit. Companies have little time to prepare for any change.

This means business demands either *no change* or we need to switch to something already available off the shelf (maybe with a few simple additions) with as much notice as possible.

To be able to continue as 'No Change' will be at the whim of the EU - we cannot force  them to continue -- and the price, if they are willing to continue, is likely to be massive.

So we really need to look at off the shelf solutions that can be implemented without active EU cooperation. The obvious solution is a no-deal, WTO #Brexit. Many UK companies who import/export will already be using suitable systems for trading under WTO rules - to add a new WTO country (rump EU) or maybe setting up each member state as a new country, to such systems should be very straight forward - for those who don't already have such systems they are freely available off the shelf.

These are the only options that can be implemented in time - and it is only the second that the UK can be sure to have available for business.

With new tariff levels with the EU, adjustments to UKs WTO tariff levels may be required, but these would (of course) be for all WTO, Most Favoured Nation partners.

Once out of the EU on WTO terms, with WTO based systems, any new trade deal can be incorporated under 'business as usual' for all trading companies.

The clock is ticking - the sooner this can be announced the better.

NB: My skills are processes and re-engineering systems, not international trade -- but I have read that the Treaty of Vienna (on treaties) and WTO could give us a ten year grace period with the EU continuing on zero tarriffs. This wouldn't change the process of no-deal, but would make transfer to standard tarrifs a more relaxed process.

Saturday 3 March 2018

Sussex Police vs @pperrin - the beginning of the end...

Dear Ms K*** (officer of the Sussex Police),

I am finally in a position to start to counter your vindictive, personal, nasty and outright evil campaign against me.

Your outright lies, duplicity and misinformation are plain by comparing the live recordings against your deceitful notes.

As I said right at the start, everything about the matter was in the public domain right at the start, before you arrested me - either you had a case from day one or you didn't - there is no case now, so you never had one, there was no reason for arrest.

But to please the press you arrested me anyway - and then spent six months trying to 'fit me up'.

I broke no law, every competent person involved agrees that I broke no law the first legal advice you got (having lazily not bothered to get advice before the arrest) says there was no legal case -- only *you* ever tried to prove otherwise.

You have the arrogance to send me a letter 'warning' me where free speech becomes illegal - but *you* are the only person who is not competent to judge!! Everyone else knows my tweets were legal, only *you* thought otherwise.

I said I had broken no law, your legal person said I had broken no law, the CPS said I had broken no law -- only *YOU* said otherwise, it is you who needs advice, instruction, education... Your ignorant and arrogant letter when you admitted defeat and could raise no charge against me, was so impertinent as offered me advice... wake up lady, it is you who needs to take advice, not me - it is only you who was wrong!

Anyway - there is a long way to go, but the evidence is massing against your nasty,vindictive, corrupt attack on me (a simple, innocent, pleb) and I intend to be compensated in full.

Yours

Paul Perrin (the innocent victim of your hate).

p.s I have *** your name so posting this all over social media isn't 'personal'.

Thursday 1 March 2018

Jewish Bolshevism - canard or fact? And is Islamic Momentum/Corbyn history repeating?



The principle of an unhappy people residing in an others land and it causing problems does seem to be coming around again - while radicalised Jews in eastern Europe/Asia joined the Bolsheviks and sought (successfully) to destroy the Tsars Russia. today in western Europe we have radicalised Muslims joining ISIS to overthrow the West, and joining Corbyn's Labour/Momentum to overthrow the UK.

Is Communism a Jewish conspiracy?

It is not something that had particularly interested me so I had never looked up the details, but in alternative social media (the bit that isn't policed by the same corrupt people who police our old media) it fairly regularly gets mentioned.

Of course the fact alternative social media isn't policed doesn't mean it is all correct or true - but it does mean you get to see all the views and information that our lords and masters would rather was kept quiet whether it is true or not. So you have to research and decide for yourself what is to be believed, but at least you are not starting with all the information (and then some) - not just the parts that they establishment think will lead you to agree with them.

My knowledge of the Russian Revolution is not extensive, but basically...

A bit after WW1, in 1917, the Tsar had managed to piss off enough of the wrong people that a political group known as the Bolsheviks oversaw a revolution, shortly after which the Tsar and his entire family were secretly killed and their bodies hidden so there could be no 'shrine' for his supporters to venerate.
The Bolseviks were a socialist/communist movement, inspired by the works of Carl Marx (who had lived about 50 years earlier).
After the revolution the Joseph Stalin (or just Stalin to his friends and enemies) rose to the top of the Communist leadership and ended up removing and killing off all competition to his position, including most of the original Bolsheviks.

So... Googling 'were the bolsheviks jewish', the first result was a wikipedia link...


Ok... I thought this was really funny -- that 'Jewish Bolshevism' was considered antisemitic and anti-communist... It suggests both that Jews are tainted by being associated with Communism, and at the same time Communism is tainted by being associated with Jews...

However it did say it was a canard (that the accusation is false), so I read further -
Some scholars have grossly exaggerated Jewish presence in the Soviet Communist Party. For example, journalist David Aaronovitch quotes Alfred Jensen as saying that in the 1920s "75 per cent of the leading Bolsheviks" were "of Jewish origin".[better source needed] According to Aaronovitch, "a cursory examination of membership of the top committees shows this figure to be an absurd exaggeration".[21]

Ok, so the leadership were claimed to be 75% Jewish, but Aaronovich says a cursory examination would show this an 'absurd exaggeration. -- Well following the link, hoping to see that 'cursory examination' I was disappointed... the link is the the article that is quoted, but talks about 15% of Bolshevik 'officers' being Jewish, but doesn't talk of  the leaders...

At this point I checked on Marx himself - while he wasn't a practicing Jew, his father (sometime before his birth) had converted from Judaism to Protestantism to 'escape the constraints of anti-semitic legislation'...

Back to the leading Bolsheviks etc... Googling further... it turned up some articles in leading Jewish oriented publications that say that Jews were behind the revolution! Although does go on to say it wasn't specifically because they were Jewish.




Google turned up this article that looked interesting covering the whole issue, but is from (what turns out to be) a contentious organisation - Theresa May banned its leader from entering the UK! - but the quotes and facts can be simply double checked.


That article did turn up some interesting quotes from the time - including an article by Winston Churchill basically, again, saying that the Bolsheviks were primarily (cultural) Jews, but the revolution was not innate to their culture/religion but was a reaction to them being persecuted - this seems to have been the basis of his support for Zionism, a nation state for the Jews.


ZIONISM versus BOLSHEVISM.
A STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE.
By the Rt. Hon. Winston S. Churchill.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Zionism_versus_Bolshevism

So there you have it! Seem to outcome from this search is that, yes Jews were behind it, but not because they were Jewish but because they were persecuted.

Later of course, Hitler dealt with his concerns about Jews with gas chambers, Churchill dealt with his concerns about Jews by supporting the creation of Israel.

The principle of an unhappy people residing in an others land and it causing problems does seem to be coming around again - while radicalised Jews in eastern Europe/Asia joined the Bolsheviks and sought (successfully) to destroy the Tsars Russia. today in western Europe we have radicalised Muslims joining ISIS to overthrow the West, and joining Corbyn's Labour/Momentum to overthrow the UK.

Wednesday 28 February 2018

Theresa May - a #Brexit'eer Genius? #BrexitSaturday

I have posted this in various places since late last year, I put it here for reference!

The theory goes like this...


Theresa May has deliberately ensured that every reamainer line of attack/resistance is fully exhausted so once brexit happens no remainer can say they weren't given every opportunity to raise challenges and have them heard. So come brexit no rational person can have any complaint.

Theresa May has deliberately let the EU set the negotiating agenda so there can be no complaint that the UK hampered the process leading to the final outcome, it has been 100% EU driven - but done in the knowledge that the EU have zero chance of delivering any deal in time... so ensuring that the UK gets a 'no deal brexit' entirely due to the EU's incompetent managing of the process.

So come brexit we leave with no special deal (just WTO), and remainers and proEU bods have nothing to criticise the UK for because they were given every opportunity and ran the negotiations.

Well... thats how the theory goes... what do you think?

**EDIT**

From The Sun newspaper:


This article sets out that with about one year to go to Brexit Saturday when we awake to spend our first full day in an independent UK, (30th March 2019), the whole basis of the EU exit agreement and divorce bill has been thrown into the air...

I refuse to accept that there is any 'divorce bill' to pay, and I want to leave the EU with 'no deal' - we can trade with them under WTO terms just as we shall with most of the rest of the world.

Take the Brexit Pledge - hold Ms May to her word (she may appreciate your support!!) - Brexit means Brexit, by Brexit Saturday. Print, buy,send, deliver pledge cards as far and as wide as possible - this is the next line in the sand and it MUST hold.



Print this yourself or you can buy this as a postcard - singly addressed and posted to you, or a pack of ten, for you to address/use as you please - from https://shop.radiofreeuk.org/

Thursday 11 January 2018

Regulation revisited?...


My Grandmother - Child Safety Entrepreneur

In the 1960's after a spate of child deaths from nighties catching fire my Grandmother setup a business making and selling non-flamable nighties - she did this because she was horrified at the accidents, she was skilled as a seamstress and she wanted to make a living.

Government Intervention

In the mid 60s the UK parliament caught up with what was happening and introduced laws on the flammability of children's nighties.

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1964/mar/05/flammable-nightwear-regulations

Laws relating to fire retardant fabrics for clothes and furnishings have been updated many times since, here are some of the more recent.

https://www.firesafe.org.uk/furniture-and-furnishings-fire-safety-regulations-19881989-and-1993/

But it is not cost free

However this is not a zero cost issue - flame retardant treatment is expensive and significantly puts up the price of treated fabrics, here is a mumsnet discussion on the horrendous price of childrens cotton nighties...

https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/2762428-Girls-COTTON-nighties

And there is health and the environment

Also it has now been found that some of the flame retardant treatments use chemicals that  may be damaging to people health and to the environment.

http://greensciencepolicy.org/topics/flame-retardants/

Times change, homes have few naked flames today

Another consideration since the start of this issue is that houses now have far fewer naked flames and sources of ignition than they did back in the 1960's. Houses tend not to have open fires (unless for display), they are not lit by gas, candles are not used for lighting to bed etc. In fact, in a modern house apart from gas hobs (and for a cup of tea a kettle is more likely to be used anyway) the only naked flames are likely to be from scented candles and old-school cigarettes/lighters.

So the question should be whether the legislation is still appropriate and could it actually be cut. If course there is a knee-jerk reaction against removing something that supposedly makes children safer, but in a science based, evidence driven world it really should be looked at from scratch...

Finally

I started on this subject because an EUphile was giving the EU credit for making childrens nighties in the UK safe. Which is clearly not true as the UK had already started on this in the 1960's before we joined, but I also found a comment in the Mumsnet discussion (linked to above) which says...


Northanter Sat 22-Oct-16 20:26:33
Europe has different flame retardency regulations for nightwear. It is possible you could buy some from an online retailer in, say, France, and get them sent.

But sometimes you come up against regulations against importing them altogether.
If you or any acquaintance are planning a trip to Europe, you can ask them to get you one (or several, in lots of sizes!) - you can usually get them pretty cheaply in H&M or C&A in France and Belgium at least, probably elsewhere too.

So suggesting that the UK laws have been stricter than the EU laws all along!



ps. And they have similar discussions  in the USA... http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/289057.page